


The Days of Wine and Roses

by Koiuta



Category: Thor (Movies)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-13
Updated: 2014-11-13
Packaged: 2018-02-25 05:20:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2609960
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Koiuta/pseuds/Koiuta
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Thor's last visit to Jane's bedside and his musings on mortal life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Days of Wine and Roses

**Author's Note:**

> This is a small piece I wrote thinking that it would be part of a larger whole. Instead it finds itself set on it's own with nothing more to add.

Thor pulled at the hem of his worn wool sweater as he reclined back into the highly uncomfortable hospital chair once more. Jane's heart rate had returned to normal and he heaved a sigh. He had known this day was coming, but he feared that he was not yet ready. Loki had been right. The bliss he had found with Jane lasted but the blink of an eye in his long life, and Jane's mortal life was all but over. 

He looked down at the hospital bed and reached over to tangle his fingers her long hair now grey with age and time. Her sharp features and prominent cheekbones had faded over time, but she was no less beautiful to him now then she was the day he first descended to Midgard. Her mind however was a different matter all together. Where once she was so sure and calculating, she now often faltered and stumbled over words, lost in time and space. Her mind had become a fragile thing, more enemy to her than friend. Memories and moments were no longer clear to her -- there where far too many webs obstructing her view. She was often confused by Thor's presence. There were days when she no longer knew his name and was frightened by his large frame and strong grip, and there were others where his continued youth confused her and she thought herself in another time and place. Often on these days she awoke shouting and angry, thinking herself lost in those dark days when the Bifrost had been destroyed and she abandoned. 

Her deep depression from those lost years were a thing Jane had never shared with him, having long ago convinced him it was no matter to dwell over. Thor knew better now. Seeing the intensity of her anger and the often biting and hurtful words she would spit at him, Thor knew this was a thing he would never forgive himself. He had questioned his decision then to not return to her, at least for a time to explain to her -- to make her see, but as usual the All-Father had convinced him the realms and his duty came first. He buried his face in his hands wishing with all his power that this was a pain he could take from her, or at least the power these memories seemed to hold over her even now as she lay dying. 

But it had been weeks since he'd seen Jane. Her eyes held nothing of her spirit these days in her consciousness, and she only ever spoke in strings of nonsense. Thor knew there was nothing left here on Midgard with Jane all but gone, that it was time to return home to the All-Father and his duties as Prince of Asgard, but he could not seem to leave. Loki's words upon that boat as they traversed realms together continued to ring in his ears and Thor had the sense that he was losing everything. His brother, his one constant was already lost to him, left alone on Svartalfheim, his skin ashen and his eyes lightless. 

"I did not do it for him." 

The words and Loki's apologies reverberate ever often through his thoughts and they pull Thor with a rush back into the memory of that day. Thor had scrambled to his brother's side, tears in his eyes as he watched the color fade from Loki's form. His anguish was tenfold that day as it compacted upon the grief and loss that Thor had felt watching his brother slide from his grasp, falling into the space below the Bifrost. There was so much that Thor had wanted to say to his brother as he lay in his arms, but Loki's life had left him far too quickly. 

Thor was startled out of his reverie of death by the gentle slip of fingers against his. He pulled his head up to see Jane as her eyes fluttered open and Thor's heart jumped for they are once again clear and he knows that his Jane is here with him once again. 

"Thor." Her voice cracks from misuse and he reaches to the bedside table for the ice chips kept there and hands her one. She offers a slight smile as she places it to her lips before slipping him a confused stare. For a moment Thor is sure he's lost her. "Why are you still here with me love?"

It is Thor's turn to be confused. "Jane, I had promised that I would not leave you. Not again." He reaches for her small withered hand and is surprised by the strength of her hold. 

There is sadness in Jane's eyes as she speaks an honest truth Thor has been trying to deny. "This is my end, Thor. Please do not let your last memory of me be less than this. I feel myself slipping and though I may awaken, it will not be me."

"Jane." She shushes him and a tear slides down her cheek. 

"Please." Thor knows she is right -- this is her goodbye. He brushes the tear from her face and resigns himself. He would never deny Jane --even if his wants did not align with her own. 

He places his hand back in hers, "I will stay till you are sleeping." She nods and gives him a tight lipped smile as she turns her face towards his, her eyes closing as though she is basking in his glow. Slowly her breathing evens out and the creases around her eyes and mouth smooth out as the muscles relax in sleep. Fighting the urge to stay, Thor stands and bends over the bed to give Jane one final kiss. 

He stands there for a moment, marveling at the woman before him. Their farewell was simple and carefree as everything between them had been. Jane had never been one to complicate things and this was her last gift to him. She was giving him release and permission to return to his long godlike life with no grudges or reservations and only the happy memories of their short time together. For that he was grateful and he left her room knowing that this blink on his life's map would always be treasured.


End file.
